I have been studing up for months (if not years) for the prospect of getting goats for my little homestead. I have aquired a shed to use as a barn/shelter and have saved up money for fencing with plans to fence off a nice portion of my backyard woodlot, however, I just read yesterday in a "goat book" that oak leaves and wilted wild cherry leaves are poisonous to goats and there are oak trees and black cherry trees here and there in the areas I was planning on setting things up. The only non-wooded portion of our land is too far from the house where I wouldn't feel the goats were as safe, and we wouldn't get the constant enjoyment of having them close by. Does this pretty much mean that goats shouldn't be raised on my property??? );
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Thank you for that, Rachel, as I also have an old plum tree there and a seedling (that bore last year) as well and I really do not want to cut them. I truly don't like cutting trees at all and fruit trees even less. I am wondering if I should just fence around the cherry tree trunk so they cannot get to the bark as the branches are far enough up they cannot reach them. I have read so many conflicting things about cherry trees that it boggles the mind.
I have given my goats plum tree branches, and nothing went wrong...
Glenna Rose said:
I appreciate this thread. I am still on the fence about cutting down the Royal Ann cherry tree to expand the "permanent" goat area more. I have also read that *any* soft fruit leaves are poisonous. I have pear trees and a large apricot tree in the yard. I am certain at some point, they have eaten leaves from those even though they are not in their alternate pen. That pen includes three apple trees so you can imagine they are in heaven when the trees are in leaf or fruit. :-)
Yes, I think it's specifically wilted leaves. I have read about them eating them fresh from the tree, and dry on the ground. If I remember right, someone in a conversation about them said there is something chemically that happens when they are wilted that is toxic. Fallen leaves don't have it either.
Juliana Goodwin said:
I second everything everyone else said- My goats eat Live Oak and the Swamp Oak all the time, they are fine. No cherries, so can't speak to that. I do believe there is something about the wilted stage of some fruit trees that is harmful.
Thanks so much for sharing that, Sandra! We have had several discussions about this on here and our shared experiences (I had one awful one with poisoning from azaleas eaten thru the fence of of a new pen/ they are around them all the time when loose and have other things to eat and don't touch them/when placed in a new pen and could reach them, they pigged out/ had to put down the buck but the does made it and one even kidded twins about 3 months later) lead us to believe this strongly!
Sandra Hess said:
We use oak branches as a treat for out goats and they love it...as well as the acorns...though we limit the number we hand feed them at any one time...though they will forage like crazy under the tree in their pen for the acorns too.
Cherry does concern me though...We have both wild cherry and cherry Laurel on the property and make a huge effort to keep the goats away from both just in case...Now the farmer down the road had no qualms about allowing his cows access to the Cherry Laurel and the neighbor around the corner even let his first lot of goats eat the ones on their property...funnily enough his goats mysteriously died though he blamed bloat from being feed to much grain but was not 100% sure if that was the cause...never called the vet....we have very different approaches to raising farm animals.
Our original plan was to get some boer goats to underbrush the wooded area on our property...that was until we found out the cherry laurel could be toxic and since it is 90% of the trees and shrubs we did not feel right risking an innocent animals life to find out if it is true.
Fortunately we have almost 4 acres of improved pasture so did not have to give up the dream of goats...but the dream of an easyway to underbrush cheaply.
So true, Margaret. When I was a teen, I was told some horses in a field started displaying bizarre behavior. Looking at the field, you easily could see it was a heavily worn pasture/way over-grazed....and had Datura stramonium ("locoweed", "jimsonweed", etc.) present (is a poison to livestock & humans, causes bizarre behavior, is hallucinagenic, can cause death I believe). It is a tall weed and I didn't even set foot from the driveway to point out the obvious. The next time I stopped there, the owners said they had a a vet out and Datura poisoning was the case. The horses had been using that field forever...they just had gotten desperate for fodder : ( How awful!
Sandra Hess, CPM
Heartland Midwifery
Fresno, Ohio
Love the "Goat Potato Chips!' So true! When I let mine out they go straight for the leaves piled around the edge of the road. We actually have several different types of oaks around here and they LOVE them! And just like a potato chip...they can't eat just one...more like the whole bag!
I would be more concerned about the cherry. I think it may depend on the type. But I will tell you from mine and others experience we have found that they do not tend to mess with the wrong thing as long as they have plenty of other suitable things to eat. If you can make sure they always have grass hay available they are not likely to eat anything poisonous.
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